Season Review 23/24: Mostafa Asal

The 2023/24 PSA World Tour has certainly been one of change for Mostafa Asal, with the Egyptian talent adapting his approach to the sport since working under the tutelage of former World No.1 James Willstrop.

Rewind 12 months, and ‘The Raging Bull’ had just been informed of a 12-week suspension from the PSA Tour, but since his return to the court at the Grasshopper Cup last October, he has put past controversies to bed and let his squash do the talking.

Some of the outstanding performances that Asal managed to deliver in the latter stages of the season are certainly evidence that his work with Willstrop is paying dividends. Asal has noticeably adopted a calmer demeanour on court and looked to instil the gentlemanly respect which Willstrop has been renowned for throughout his career.

Looking back on his season after his British Open victory in June, Asal reflected: “With the changes, with lots of things that I am doing, I am grateful to be playing squash like this. 

“Pontefract feels like home now. I’ve been in Pontefract now, overall, for like two months this season, and I’m happy to be there. I made the decision to go to Pontefract during the suspension – I had like three weeks to make the decision. 

“I realised there was something wrong, there was something to fix, and that is what I have done.”

On the impact of Willstrop, he added: “It has been unbelievable to learn from him, but first off, it was tough lessons in the first week at Pontefract. He’s had a big impact on me to try be calm on court. I’m always heated up and fired up and I need the balance, and hopefully, it has started to come. 

“The best thing right now is that there are no bans. Everything is fine, and this is credit to James [Willstrop]. He has been on the road with me and I needed this. I wasn’t being guided to this level before, to be honest. Now, to have someone who is guiding me, at this young age, is brilliant. I have to give this man a lot of credit. 

“At the beginning of the season, I had no structure until I went to Pontefract to work with James. To play the squash that I’m winning at the moment is all credit to them.”

Asal’s most noticeable victory of the season came at the British Open, where he defeated World No.1 Ali Farag and World No.2 Paul Coll on his way to the prestigious Platinum title. Wins such as these – both of which came in five games – highlighted how his combination of destructive power but equally effortless movement can pose an almighty challenge to any player in the world on his day.

Elsewhere throughout the season, Asal scored several high-profile victories, becoming one of just two players to defeat Farag on multiple occasions – the other being Paul Coll – and managing to record wins against every single member of the current top ten in the world.

The 23-year-old also captured both the Gold-level Florida Open and Black Ball Open titles, as well as reaching the finals of each of his last six World Tour events of the season. Most notable among these was his trip to the final of the CIB PSA World Championships in Cairo, where he eventually lost out to Diego Elias in the title decider.

After finishing the season in superb form, Asal will hope to carry this through to the 2024/25 season and attempt to close the gap down to Farag at the top of the men’s rankings.

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